


into the sea (follow me instead)

by shroudedfuse (orphan_account)



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Fluff, M/M, literally nothing but fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-09
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-07-22 11:48:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7436952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/shroudedfuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>tyler met a merman when he was six years old. </p><p>or; the merman!josh fic</p>
            </blockquote>





	into the sea (follow me instead)

**Author's Note:**

> i actually don't know why i wrote this.  
> but have some fluff, frens.  
> i think we all need it these days.

Tyler was six years old when he met a merman. Of course no one believed him. He was  _ six _ .

It took hours, but the storm finally died down, and it was dark out by the time he and Zack decided to scour the entirety of the Santa Monica beachfront for crabs. “They dig themselves under the sand where the ocean meets the beach,” their dad had told them. He stoked a small pit-fire as he talked, his eyes glowing with firelight, feeding the boy’s awestruck interest. “Keeps them from being washed away while they look for food. I bet if you dug around enough, you could find a couple.”

“Chris, don’t let them wander off.”

Mr. Joseph chuckled and clapped Tyler on the shoulder. “You two stay around the pier, alright?”

And with a chorus of less than sincere nods, Tyler and Zack had already scurried off, drawn to the crash of the ocean waves against the sand and the childlike thrill of exploring, of discovering, of new things they didn’t quite yet understand but couldn’t get enough of regardless.

“Over here, Zacky!” Tyler whisper-shouted, grasping his brother’s arm in a rush of excitement and yanking him in one direction. “I saw something.”

The brothers ducked down instantly, crouching just before the ocean waves, and watched in awe as little bubbles popped up in the sand, left by the wake of the water, and little things scuttled back and forth against the soaked sand. Tyler’s eyes lit up in curious delight. “Woah,” he muttered.”

And then, he heard a splash.

Tyler froze, jumping back onto his feet as Zack shuffled forward, closer to the crabs as another shallow wave washed over the sand. “Where’d they go, Tyler?”

“I heard something!”

Zack pouted. “Tyler, where’d the crabs go?”

But Tyler shook his head, inching further from the pier. It hadn’t been a quiet splash. Was someone out there? “Hello?” 

Seeing that his brother had lost interest, Zack sighed and plopped into the sand. “Crabs are dumb anyway.”

“No they aren’t, Zack.”

“Well,  _ you _ don’t wanna look for them!”

Another splash. Louder, closer.

“Cause I heard something!”

This time, Zack’s eyes popped wide open. “Oh,” he whispered. He scrambled up onto his feet quickly. “What do you think it is?” A pause. “What if it’s a  _ murderer _ ?”

“Zack, why would a  _ murderer _ be in the ocean?”

“So he can-” Zack gasped in shock, and immediately rushed to Tyler and grabbed his arm. “So he can  _ kill the crabs _ !”

Tyler just rolled his eyes. “I’m gonna go see what it is,” he stated bravely, puffing out his chest.

“But  _ Tyler- _ ”

“You don’t have to come!” Tyler challenged. “Go protect your crabs. I’m gonna see what it is. It’s probably just a fish, or maybe a turtle.”

And if he added, _ or a crazed ocean murderer _ , to the mental list, he didn’t tell Zack about it.

Before Zack could protest, Tyler trotted off in the direction of the sound, away from the pier. There was a small formation of rocks a few feet ahead of him, making him stop short in mild worry. What if there really was a deranged murderer behind there? 

With a bold shake of his head, Tyler pushed forward, just past the rocks. He immediately froze again, but not because of some lunatic waiting to kill him.

There was an unconscious boy laying half in the water, half out. And he had a  _ tail _ .

“Oh,” Tyler murmured blankly. Frankly, he had no clue what to do about this. The unconscious part probably wasn’t a good sign. Maybe he was asleep?

He also happened to be  _ half fish _ , but Tyler didn’t think on that too much.

“H… hello?”

The fish-boy stirred a little, rolling onto his back to reveal half lidded eyes and trembling lips. Was he crying? “Help,” the fish-boy whispered. His voice was soft and sad, and it made Tyler’s heart wrench. 

“What’s wrong?”

The fish-boy pointed down toward his tail with one shaking hand, and grasped the nearby rocks with the other, hauling himself into a sitting position with a sharp gasp of pain. “Stuck,” he mumbled. Tyler shuffled forward slightly, peering into the water. Sure enough, he could see tight rings of rope wrapped around the fish-boy’s smooth blue tail. Some kind of net? “Can’t get it off.”

“Let me help,” Tyler offered carefully, shifting another step forward.

The fish-boy’s eyes flew wide open, and his grip on the rocks tightened. “Don’t hurt me. Please.”

“I’m not gonna hurt you,” Tyler assured him. Without thinking, he offered up his pinky. “I pinky promise.”

The fish-boy’s head quirked to the side in slight confusion, but he nonetheless linked pinkies with Tyler. His skin was smooth and wet, but not scaly. Interesting.

And so Tyler set to work. He crouched in the water beside the fish-boy’s tail, grasping the outer pieces of the net to see where the problem was. Some pieces of rope were tangled around the ends of the fish-boy’s fins, and coiled near halfway up the length of his tail. It took a lot of careful prying, but he managed to slide the net down the fish-boy’s tail. He didn’t miss the fish-boy’s sigh of relief. 

Still, there was the matter of the pieces stuck on his fins. Tyler shuffled around in his shorts pocket, maybe- his pocket knife, there it was. “Don’t freak out,” Tyler murmured carefully, pulling the pocket knife out and flipping the blade open. “I just gotta cut this piece off.”

The fish-boy’s eyes stayed glued on Tyler as he carefully cut the net up, piece by piece, until it fell in shreds into the sand, freeing the fish-boy’s fins. The rope had left painful looking indents and marks on the fish-boy’s tail, but from the way he shuffled over to the water and ducked under, flipping his tail up eagerly, it must not have hurt so bad.

A few moments later, the fish-boy resurfaced, a bright, toothy grin on his face. “Thanks,” the fish-boy called softly, awe glistening in his dark eyes. “You saved me.”

Tyler returned the smile, then plopped onto the sand cross-legged as he pocketed his knife. “It was nothing.”

“What’s your name?”

“Tyler. What’s yours.”

The fish-boy froze, glancing back toward the water quickly. “I have to go.”

“But-”

“I’m sorry,” the fish-boy rushed to say. “My parents- would freak out if they saw you. Thank you so much, Tyler. I owe you.”

“But I leave tomorrow,” Tyler whined, looking to the fish-boy despondently. 

The fish-boy frowned at that, glancing back at the water again. “Oh.” 

Tyler shook his head firmly. “I’ll come back,” he promised. “How can I find you?”

“I live here,” the fish-boy replied vaguely. Another backward glance. “I really have to go. If you come back, just come to the pier after dark. That’s when I like to come up to the surface, when people can’t see.”

“I’ll come back.”

The fish-boy smiled, and without another word ducked down beneath the waves, disappearing completely.

“But what’s your  _ name _ !”

~~~

Years later, Tyler wrote about the water. His memories of the beach when he was much younger had faded, but there was something about the water that kept drawing him back.

A promise, most likely to a figment of his imagination. An imaginary friend.

But a promise nonetheless.

So when several of his first songs drew lyrical inspiration from the ocean, he didn’t question it. 

~~~

Mark took him drinking for his 21st birthday. 

Truth be told, Tyler wasn’t very interested in drinking. But Mark had insisted that he’d done nothing but work since he came to Los Angeles, and needed to go out on the town for once, at least for his birthday. So Tyler gave in.

The bar was downtown, a little shady- but all bars were shady to Tyler. He was new, pretty young, and there was alcohol. It screamed shady to the innocent Midwestern boy.

“Order what you want,” Mark insisted as they made their way up to the bar. “Everything’s on me.”

Tyler just shrugged. “I know pretty much nothing about alcohol.”

Mark ended up ordering for the both of them, two beers and two shots of vodka, and it was more than enough in Tyler’s eyes. And in his throat- it stung bitterly on the way down. He wasn’t exactly sure why people loved drinking so much.

He and Mark picked up light conversation as they drank, talking about music, new ideas, prospects for the future. Somehow he’d managed to rope Mark into his crazy music career scheme when everyone else had jumped ship, insisting that there was nothing else for him. Music was it, to his family’s dismay. He thanked god Mark was so supportive- without him, he wouldn’t have been able to move out to LA at all. 

Mark’s gaze started to shift as Tyler brought up a new idea for a potential gig, zeroing in on something just past Tyler’s shoulder. Before Tyler could question it, Mark’s eyes snapped back and met his. “Don’t look now,” he muttered, a smirk on his face, “but there’s a boy.”

“Mark, stop.”

“No, listen. There’s a cute boy staring at you.”

“Lying is a sin, you know.”

“Look for yourself, then, birthday boy.”

With a frown, Tyler turned his head just enough to get a glance at whoever Mark was talking about. Dark eyes dropped their hold on Tyler’s form, and his eyes widened. Bright, bubblegum pink hair and smooth pale skin and a jaw that could slice him in half. And he’d been staring at Tyler?

“Shit,” Tyler whispered, immediately turning back to Mark.

“Cursing is a sin, Joseph.” Tyler made a face, and Mark just laughed. “Okay, but wanna hear how this situation gets even better?”

“Shoot.”

“He’s a drummer,” Mark informed him. “Used to play with this underground band in Santa Monica, but they broke up a few months ago.”

Tyler’s eyes lit up. A  _ drummer _ .

“And, he’s headed this way,” Mark snickered, and immediately slipped off his stool, feet thumping against the floor. Tyler could feel his heart start to pound directly out of his chest. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” Tyler choked out, forcing himself to swallow another long gulp of the burning beer. “I’ll call you if anything happens.”

“Have fun, birthday boy.”

Tyler watched as Mark strode off onto the dance floor, but his gaze snapped back to the surface of the bar and the beer in his hands and literally anything else as he heard footsteps approach to his right. “Hey.”

Tyler might’ve jumped a little at the sound. His eyes snapped up to meet the voice, and there was the drummer. The really cute, pink haired, sharp jawed drummer. “Hi.”

The drummer chuckled. “Didn’t mean to scare you, sorry.” He paused then, gesturing at the barstool next to Tyler. “Is it okay if I… I mean…”

Tyler giggled, an honest to god little girl giggle. “Yeah.” He wanted to punch himself in the face. 

The drummer, however, didn’t seem to mind it and sat down regardless. His lips spread into a wide, toothy smile, and Tyler sighed. God damn pretty boys. “Haven’t seen you around.”

“Just turned twenty one,” Tyler informed him. The drummer’s eyes seemed to burn holes right through him, and Tyler had to drop his gaze to his beer to keep from hyperventilating. “I’m Tyler, by the way.”

“Josh.”

“Josh,” Tyler repeated softly. He heard the drummer- Josh- chuckle, and a hot blush spread across his cheeks. “My friend told me you play the drums.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Tyler peeked up at him slowly, careful not to gnaw on his bottom lip too hard. “I play piano.”

“That’s sick.”

“We should start a band.”

Josh laughed, leaning his forearms against the bar and shifting just slightly closer to Tyler. His breathing stuttered, but he didn’t think on it much. “Do I get to hear your music first?”

“Maybe.”

“How are we supposed to be a band if I don’t know any of the songs?”

“Shhhh,” Tyler laughed, dropping his gaze again. “All in good time.”

“You’re cute.” Tyler nearly choked on his breath. The blush that had just started to die down on his cheeks resurged, brighter and hotter than before. 

“You always this much of a sweet talker?”

Josh laughed, propping his head up with one hand as he leaned on the bar. “That was more of a statement of fact than sweet talk,” he defended in a murmur. “You’ll know when I’m sweet talking you.”

Teeth digging near painfully into his bottom lip, Tyler peeked up at Josh. He watched the way Josh’s eyes zeroed in on his lips for a split second, then flickered up to meet his gaze, with mute fascination before he spoke. “Sweet talk me, then,” he dared. 

“Fuck,” Josh replied eloquently. 

~~~

Josh hated the rain.

They were at Josh’s apartment one night, watching X-Files reruns and eating pizza, when it started to storm. He saw Josh noticeably tense up and frowned, reaching across the couch to grasp his arm gently.

“You okay?”

Josh jumped with a burst of lightening, and nodded fervently. “M’fine.”

“You’re an awful liar.”

He tried to laugh, but it came out shaky. “Don’t like thunderstorms,” he mumbled. “Bad memories.”

Tyler just nodded. He ended up scooting over across the couch, shoving the TV remote out of the way in order to wrap an arm around Josh’s shoulders. “I’m sorry.”

Josh sighed, leaning his head against Tyler’s lightly. “It’s usually okay. It almost never rains here. But when it does.... I just don’t like it.” He shuddered, shaking his head lightly.

Another crack of thunder. Another jolt.

“Hey,” Tyler murmured, tightening his arm around Josh. “It’s okay.”

Josh nodded feebly, hiding his face in Tyler’s neck. Tyler could feel the warm breath against his skin, the soft nudge of Josh’s nose against the column of his throat, and had to fight every urge to avoid being turned on by the very, very hot boy next to him. Now wasn’t the time. 

“Promise?” Josh’s voice was so small. Tyler felt his heart wrench painfully.

But he nodded. “Pinky promise,” he whispered. 

~~~

Tyler showed Josh his first song on the way to Santa Monica beach. He hadn’t been there since he was a kid, and figured the trip would be a special occasion.

It wasn’t a date, though it kind of felt like one. Neither of them had explicitly stated that it was a date. But it was just the two of them going on a day trip to the beach. Nobody else.  _ But _ , nobody said it was a date, so Tyler figured it wasn’t. 

(He kind of wished it was a date, though.)

He ended up stealing the aux cord halfway to the beach and plugged it into his phone, earning a wriggle of eyebrows from Josh that he simply rolled his eyes at. “After all these years, do I finally get to hear your music?”

“Josh, it’s been, like, a few weeks.”

“I’m trying to be dramatic,  _ jeez _ .” Tyler snorted.

It took him a moment to scroll up and down through his playlist indecisively, gnawing at his lip as his eyes scanned the names. Where did he  _ start _ ?

In the end, he chose March To The Sea. It felt right.

Josh’s eyes remained glued on the road the entire duration of the song, and it made Tyler squirm in his seat nervously. He should’ve picked a different song. This was a  _ stupid _ song. Still, he couldn’t keep from watching Josh’s every expression throughout the song, his every response. 

He watched Josh’s lips twitch into a small, appreciative smile at the mention of a spaceship in the sky.  _ Typical _ .

“Damn,” Josh whispered once the song had ended. Tyler paused the playlist quickly, before another stupid song could play and embarrass him further. “That’s insane, dude. I love it.”

“You can be honest, I won’t get offended.”

Josh frowned as they pulled up to a stoplight, glancing over at him. “Are you kidding? Your music is sick, I love your sound. And the lyrics… I need to listen to it again.” His eyes flickered back onto the road momentarily, then met his again with an awestruck glint shining in them. “Seriously, Tyler. You’ve got a gift.”

Tyler shrunk back into his seat as the light turned green, covering his face with both hands. “Stop it,” he complained, barely fighting a blush and a smile. It made Josh laugh. 

“Never.”

~~~

They were at the beach again when Josh kissed him for the first time.

It was just a brush of lips against lips, just simple contact, but it made Tyler’s head swim. He felt Josh’s warm hands cup his face as he went in for a second kiss and sighed against his mouth, reaching up slowly to drape his arms over Josh’s neck. 

Tyler was reeling, smiling so wide he wasn’t sure how it was possible that they were still kissing, so completely and utterly lost in the thrill of being alone with Josh, surrounded by Josh and the ocean and the sunset, and everything was perfect until he pulled Josh a little closer and dragged him down into the water with him.

Frankly, he didn’t notice they were falling until cold seawater hit his back and he felt the warmth of Josh disappear from in front of him. “Shit,” he heard over the crash of the waves on the sand.

“Sorry,” Tyler mumbled, glancing around nervously. “I didn’t- I got, um… distracted, and- I’m sorry, I-” He frowned, glancing from side to side. Nothing. “Josh?”

“Don’t freak out.”

That was never good. Slowly, Tyler turned around to face the water.

“ _ Oh _ .”

Josh had grown a tail.

~

“You’re…”

“Yeah.”

“... So, the water…”

“Tail only appears when I’m submerged.”

“How’d you get your pants off in time?”

“Practice.”

A long pause. “... You’re a  _ merman _ .”

Josh laughed, flicking his tail at an angle from behind just to sent a light splash of water Tyler’s way. “Yes and no.”

They’d eventually made their way out to the far end of an outcropping of rock, once the sun was nearly gone and people were retreating from the beach. Tyler sat cross legged on the rock, watching Josh with unmasked awe as he floated in the deeper parts of the water, staying above the waves with the power of his  _ fucking tail. _

“What do you mean, yes and no?”

Josh shrugged. “My mom is human, my dad’s a merman.”

“How does that work?”

“A lot of wish granting and awkward family reunions.”

At that Tyler giggled, leaning his chin into his palm as Josh neared. “I thought I saw a merman when I was little,” he admitted softly. “I think it was here, too.”

“We try to stay out of sight, but yeah, sometimes you can see us.”

“Well, this merman was hurt,” Tyler elaborated. “I don’t actually know if it was a dream or not, ignore me.”

Suddenly Josh perked up. “Wait, how old was he?”

“Uh… I dunno, a kid. I was six when we came here, family vacation. It literally might’ve been a dream, I had messed up dreams growing up.”

Josh shook his head wildly. “No, that… Tyler, that was  _ me _ .”

For a moment, Tyler just stared, eyes wide and unblinking, mouth hanging open. Images of a small fish boy washed up on the sand, tangled in the ropes of a net, flooded his mind and  _ of course _ . “Oh my god.”

“You saved my life,” Josh said in a small voice. His eyes were shining. “I’ve been looking for you ever since, it’s dumb… you promised you’d come back, and I…” He gestured around. “I haven’t left here since.”

Without thought, Tyler lunged forward, wrapping his arms and legs around Josh and pressing his lips firmly against his. They both sunk down into the water, but a split second later Josh was propelling them upward and kissing him back, matching Tyler’s urgency. 

“I promised,” Tyler gasped out against Josh’s mouth between kisses. “I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere.”


End file.
